Ukraine 1 England 0: Capello's men fire off a distress flare

England surrendered their unbeaten competitive record under Fabio Capello last night after a controversial night at an extraordinarily intimidating Dnipro Stadium.

Bombarded with flares and fireworks which seemed likely to set the pitch alight and which prompted a formal complaint from the Football Association, England were further threatened by dismal defending from Rio Ferdinand, which in turn prompted rash goalkeeping and a red card for Rob Green.

Breaking the deadlock: Nazarenko lets fly, with Ashely Cole deflecting the Ukrainian's effort past a helpless David James

It meant England had to play with just 10 men for 76 minutes. A
hugely-motivated Ukrainian side then proceeded to expose the defensive
frailties of Capello's team as the volatile home supporters celebrated
their nation's first ever victory against England, one which lifted
them to second place in Group Six and which, assuming they beat Andorra
on Wednesday, will put them in the play-offs for a place in South
Africa.

In doing so, they forced England's first backward step under
Capello's regime and ensured the heady optimism of last month's 5-1 win
over Croatia and qualification for next year's World Cup was rapidly
punctured.

The defeat may be of little consequence to England, top of the group
by some distance, but the manner of it indicates more serious issues
for the summer ahead. Ferdinand's awful error was the origin of
England's downfall and may signal the beginning of the end of his
international career.

But defensive weakness prevailed throughout and if they cannot be
redressed, England will not be able to consider themselves contenders
for the World Cup.

Contact: Robert Green fouls Artem Milevskiy to concede a penalty - and reducing England to ten-men

Capello, though, pronounced himself 'proud' of his team at the end
and indeed they produced a magnificently positive second-half showing,
with Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard greatly industrious.

'We had the chances to draw right until the last minute of added
time,' said Capello, referring to a free header Carlton Cole somehow
missed in the 94th minute.

Yet he surely knows his assessment that 'we only made one defensive mistake' was an exercise in positive public relations.

The signs that this might be a contentious evening came immediately
from kick off when Green was pelted with a bombardment of fireworks,
which put him in real danger.

Play was halted for five minutes while stewards extinguished the
burning flares but they would return again on more than one occasion.

Nevertheless, England seemed initially undistracted and started
positively with Aaron Lennon exploiting space down the right and Emile
Heskey heading wide from a Steven Gerrard corner.